FORT HOOD, Texas - Soldiers from the 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) hosted a group of business and community leaders from the city of Temple for a tour of Fort Hood, Nov 12.
The group of 14 community leaders from the Leadership Temple class, began their day at the 13th SC(E) headquarters building for an informational briefing of the sustainment and support operations on Fort Hood.
Following that, the tour proceeded to test their marksmanship skills at the Electronic Skills Trainer before lunch at the Freeman Cafe Dining Facility.
After lunch the class received a tour and demonstration of the 226th Military Working Dog Detachment, 178th Military Police Detachment, 89th Military Police Brigade's, as well as a guided tour of the 1st Cavalry Division Museum.
The day concluded with a question and answer session with Brig. Gen. Clark W. LeMasters, Jr., the commanding general of 13th SC(E), in the motorpool of 49th Movement Control Battalion, 4th Sustainment Brigade.
Leadership Temple is a program designed for Temple Chamber of Commerce members to obtain an in-depth knowledge about their community while also learning to become future leaders within the City of Temple.
“Fort Hood is a major component and partner for our community,” said H.B. Macey, an account executive at Perry Office Plus in Temple and the lead organizer of the tour for the class. “The city of Temple is fortunate to have a neighboring Army base with so many soldiers and their families living and working within our town.”
The main purpose of the class visiting Fort Hood was to get a personal knowledge of what the soldiers of Fort Hood experience day-to-day.
“It's very easy to read in the newspaper or listen to the media about what is happening on Fort Hood but nothing compares to seeing the organization and structure first hand,” said Macey. “The class really enjoyed getting to speak with individual soldiers from all ranks and hearing what their day to day life is like.”
The 13th SC(E) has had a long-standing community partnership with the city of Temple, and events like this not only help to increase the knowledge of what is going on at Fort Hood for the upcoming leaders of Temple, but also help to build on the joint venture between the two communities.
“The relationship with the Temple community has grown strong through the years because of great support of past leaders at Fort Hood,” said LeMasters. “It is our job to continue to foster those interactions with our partners and maintain the positive relationship that has already been established.”
LeMasters continued by saying that he believes the reason Fort Hood is known as the Great Place is because of the strong community involvement with the soldiers.
“The people of Central Texas are the best in the country at supporting our soldiers. You can sense there is a strong, honest desire of the community to want to be a part of the Fort Hood soldier’s lives and to support them in any way that they can.”